


A spark to light a forest.

by Ann7121



Category: Blake’s 7
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-21 18:42:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14920841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ann7121/pseuds/Ann7121
Summary: PGP.   How do the rebels find the will to go on?





	A spark to light a forest.

The newscast had finished but the scene of heaped bodies and a triumphant Sleer flanked by her troopers lingered for a moment on the screen before fading to black. Silence descended amongst the watchers. Then gradually, throats were cleared and, without looking at her husband, the woman stood up, went over to the boy who was still staring fixedly at the blank screen and hustled him from his seat. 

“Time you were in bed,” she said brusquely. He obeyed calmly, without speaking, his face pale and his expression set. Behind him his father had sunk a little lower in his chair and placed one hand over his eyes. 

Once in his room the boy changed into his night suit and then he crept quietly back out into the corridor. At first he could hear nothing but the sounds of his mother bustling about in the kitchen, but after a while his father left the recreation room and joined her there. The boy shrank back into an alcove listening intently.

“Is that it then?” he heard his mother ask, her voice low and defeated.

“I don’t know, Molly,” his father replied. “I just don’t know.” 

“Oh, Cauder... it’s dreadful. Dreadful. What happened to him?” His mother’s voice wavered between tears and horror. “Those poor, poor people. Have you heard anything from Grant?”

“Not yet. The boy, is he asleep? I wish he hadn’t had to see that.”

“He should be. I’ll look in on him, shall I?”

“No, leave it for now. We need to find out if Avalon’s heard anything.”

The voices fell silent and the boy shivered in a darkness that suddenly seemed thick and menacing. He pushed his back up against the corridor wall and shuffled along it until he reached the door to his room and then, eyes nearly shut, threw himself hastily across the open floor onto his bed and huddled down in it fearfully. The shadows closed in around him and he lay there sleepless for hours, water leaking from his eyes, unable to process the scenes that he’d witnessed on the vid screen or to comprehend how they had come about. 

A hand on his back made him start but before he could cry out in terror he was held in a strong, reassuring embrace.

“Not asleep then, old fellow?” his father asked. “Are you ok?”

Mutely the boy shook his head in a quick negative. “Why?” he suddenly cried out. “Why dad? He was a hero. He saved this planet. Why would he do that? Why?”

Cauder continued his rhythmic, reassuring petting of the boy whilst staring into space, seemingly lost in thought. After a longish time, the boy wriggled from his embrace and sat bolt upright. “Why?” he demanded fiercely again.

“I don’t know,” his father admitted. “A mistake maybe. Perhaps a misunderstanding. It’s hard being on the run all the time. Always looking over your shoulder. It makes some people trigger happy. Bad things do happen to good people.”

“What’s the point of being good then?” the boy challenged, angrily scrubbing his tears away. “We might as well be as bad as the Federation. They always win in the end. We should just give in and join them.”

“Not every time, “ his father gently reminded. “Sometimes good wins. And even when it doesn’t, knowing that those people were prepared to put themselves on the line to help us ...well that’s what counts; not that they failed. That spark of goodness. Sometimes a spark’s enough to set a whole forest alight.”

The boy shrugged his shoulders, wanting to be convinced but still doubtful. He plucked restlessly at his blanket.

There was a bang as the door to the recreation room flung open and Molly’s voice echoed excitedly down the corridor.

“Cauder, it’s Grant...he’s been in touch. You’re to come now. He says they’ve found Orac.”

And a sliver of pale dawn sunlight began slowly to push back the shadows in the room.


End file.
